http://www.invisiblefence.com/Find-the-Right-Solution/Cats
http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Premium-In-Ground-Cat-Fence/dp/B000TZ8SFU
Posted on 05/21/2012 6:12:05 PM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
Last year our little household was forced to move from its home of 28 years to a new one. One thing we're having to deal with now that we've never had to worry about before is neighbors.
We have cats. Two of them are fairly settled, but one (the sweetest one of course) is a little spitfire who enjoys going to the neighbor's house and getting on his cars. One of these cars is very rare (only so many were made), and apparently this little cat has been getting on it.
Now our neighbor has no desire to be unpleasant or demanding, but he has told me that he has a live trap set for the cat and will only return it to us once. He will not harm it (or any animal, since he is an animal lover himself) but has said on catching him the second time in the trap he will simply carry him off.
You may perhaps imagine what this did to my day.
I am at my wit's end. The little fellow is running all over the house now crying and we're afraid to let him out. We're afraid to let the other two out to make him feel worse. I've offered the man a tarp to cover his car but he says a tarp can damage a car as well.
What do we do? It would take time and a great deal of expense to build a fence, and even then the cat could simply go around it. Keeping him in the house is the simplest solution, but it's very painful to hear him begging to be let out. I have no idea why he insists on going over there and getting on that car when he has a front and back yard (and a car) here.
I've been doing some research online about keeping cats off cars and have read conflicting claims as to whether cats can even scratch a car at all. I've read that citrus odor will keep them off a car.
Does any FReeper have any advice as to how our neighbor (who has never caused us any trouble whatsoever) can keep our cat off this particular car and solve this problem? Right now I am terribly upset.
Please help if you can.
You can't seriously expect a neighbor to tolerate your pet cat habitually trespassing on his private property, can you?
I’m beginning to suspect that you really don’t have a problem, but that you’ve invented such a relatively innocuous case to provoke the contributors to this forum into revealing their true selves, and by gosh, it is working!
Of course, you should try to be a good neighbor.
On the other hand, if he abducted my cat, I would suddenly develop an interest in bird feeders. A lot of bird feeders. Located as close to the property line as possible. Plant some mulberries and raspberries, too - just to add a little color to the bombing runs...
Had the same problem with new neighbors that were all the extreme end of the digestive tract.
Kitty showed a pellet under the skin during an X-ray. Origin unknown.
New neighbors went bankrupt and moved elsewhere. McMansion is reverting to the elements and the cat has lost interest in that place.
My neighbors cat comes into my garage and urinates on the windshield of my car & even though I don't want to - I have to keep my gararge door closed..
I beg to differ with some of the posters. The car belongs to the guy & nobody has the right to tell him where to park it or anything else to do with it. It's HIS car in HIs yard.
He sounds like a good neighbor or he would have gotten rid of your cat without saying a word to you. He was not obligated to do that, but he sounds like a good person & he did.
Personally, I think you should keep your cat inside and quit letting the cat run the show & causing hard feelings between good neighbors. Nothing horrible will happen to your cat if he can't go out - so man up & keep him home.
http://www.invisiblefence.com/Find-the-Right-Solution/Cats
http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Premium-In-Ground-Cat-Fence/dp/B000TZ8SFU
Guy is well within his rights but it seems like he’s overreacting to me. I can’t imagine being inclined to trap a new neighbor’s cat and dump him somewhere just because of cat prints on the hood. I say this as both a cat guy and a car guy. I mean, maybe if it went on for months and the new neighbor was indifferent to my complaints and did nothing at all to stop it. But if he was conscientious and obviously trying figure out some kind of solution, I would put up with the minor annoyance of cat tracks for quite a while before even considering something like trapping the cat and dumping him. That’s like absolute last straw kind of stuff.
But that’s just my glancing thought. Don’t know the neighbor, don’t know the car, don’t know the situation. I agree with others that the most straightforward solution would be to keep the cat inside. Hopefully the cat wouldn’t take too long to adjust.
I do not think the world is our pets' oyster. I didn't even know he was doing this till earlier today. And even if we can solve the problem of this cat, there are still several strays in the neighborhood (I have seen them) for which I have no responsibility whatsoever. My responsibility is my cats, and I'm trying to think of something.
If it is any comfort, I doubt I sleep a wink tonight. No matter how nice someone is, it is most disturbing to be told one's pet will be abducted and taken off and dropped. I didn't say such an action was unjustified; I said it is most disturbing to me unaware of any such problem and suddenly be told such a thing.
Until last year we lived in an old house with nothing but trees and pastures around it. We fed wild raccoons on the back porch. Dealing with people is not something I am used to (and as I said, we didn't even have this particular cat when we moved here).
I am sorry to have my ideological purity questioned merely because I am a bit shook up from just learning this today. I certainly never knew he was going over there, and I do not and never have condoned it.
I'm doing the best I can, but other than keep him inside, there isn't anything else I can do tonight. And keeping him inside still won't keep strays off the man's car.
Keep the cats indoors as long as you live in that location. Buy them some indoor scratching posts/condominiums. Eventually, they will settle down and be happy there. I rescued a cat that was a outdoor cat/kitten begging food at a motel. She was not allowed out here as we have coyotes. Eventually, she settled down and joined the other indoor cats in their indoor activities.
I think the neighbor has been very nice about the cat getting on his car and has made a reasonable offer. Just my opinion here.
Caveat: I have not bothered reading 50+ replies yet.
BTW, cats CAN scratch cars. Our cats have scratched up our cars, even if it’s only light from basic jumping up and down.
I remember some time ago there were ads for a special cover that would ward off cats on cars. I haven’t seen it in a decade or so, so don’t know if something like that still exists.
What kind of car is this? Can you give me any description if not the exact model? I’m curious because if this person is so interested in his “rare” car, I can’t believe he can’t get a nice heavy-duty cover from California Car Cover custom-made (indeed, a mere tarp is just as bad as a cat). I can’t believe he wouldn’t want to cover it - are you saying it’s exposed to the elements outside, much less without a cover? This is partly why I’m curious what this “rare” car is and why he seems to treat it with such disregard unless you’re not mentioning something.
BTW, mouse traps are GREAT for scaring the bejeebers out of pets from various things. Perhaps this man could put some nice covers on the car’s horizontal surfaces, set mousetraps on them, and a light cover over that both to keep the cat from putting paws in and to set it off if he “pulls” on the sheet. A cat getting up on the edge will set them off and they are usually scared stiff - do it several times and they won’t touch it. It could be risky (maybe hard to keep traps set with a sheet on it), but maybe.
I have one cat now, had up to nine at one time, I have two dogs now, had up to five at one time; I live in the city.
I also average five to six legitimate rescues per year and other neighbors account for maybe ten more.
I have five cars that don't have room to be under a roof most of the time (TBird, Torino, Mustang, Fairlane (57), and an F100...out in the sticks are two Falcons, a Maverick, and homeless 327/4-speed & factory tri-power 390/4 speed).
The 'Bird is red, bright red, and several years ago I lived in an apartment and had a neighbor who had a cat that would only pee on bright red cars. There was something really, really, ugly going on inside that cat!
I've learned to live with the effects of cat urine on chrome rims but boiling off my paint job was not acceptable. At all.
That particular cat learned to live happily indoors after absorbing a lug nut in the butt; I was the official bad guy but I noticed that two other neighbors moved a Corvette and a Jag back into the garage after kitty became domestic.
I no longer live in an apartment but lately we had one (really nice, friendly but heedless) cat and one (really nice, needy, friendly, and BIG) brown dog roaming the neighborhood. Neither is a threat, neither pees on anyone's car, and both their owners have been warned, pleaded with, and even threatened that they have the responsibly to take care of their pets.
Roaming the neighborhood is NOT responsible, someone's unfettered Chow taught me that lesson.
As of today the cat is indoors, but still not neutered, and the dog has a new family quite distant from here.
If the cat returns to his old ways, he's up for adoption by someone capable as well as loving.
Sorry.
This particular cat has already been neutered. Hopefully, his roaming ways will fade with age. If we can't think of anything else, we'll just have to try to keep him indoors until he settles down.
Has a hallway that goes to the cat door built into the side of the house so they can go indoors if they want to. Cost, including lumber, was under $300. Each of the posts goes down into cement filled 5 gallon buckets to dodge his city's permit process (temporary backyard structure.)
Only problem is that local animal control takes the shelter as permission to enter the back yard and inspect to see if the cats are wearing the proper license.
I could lend your neighbor my dog Goober ... she hates cats, grackles, and Democrats. I would suspect one encounter with Goob would eliminate the cats desire to go to the neighbors yard. Our yard is cat free and several of my neighbors yards are cat free courtesy of Goob.
Re-read my post before putting words in my mouth. I said you asked a legitimate question. I said the people feeding you their moronic cheerleading lines were the problem. You have gotten some good responses and some bad ones. Take the good ones, and ignore the bad ones (Anything that recommends your neighbor do something different with his car, rather than you take care of your cat, or recommends you attracting more nuisances— are stupid responses).
I replied to you original question with information about the citrus, and recommended an invisible fence (by description, not brand name), and seconded cripples’ idea of a run. I hope you’ll grow thicker skin, or unbridled cats may be the least of your problems in dealing with people.
Offer to buy a car cover to cover the car when it is not in use (particularly if the collectors item doesn’t hit the streets often). That way, the cat cannot possibly damage the car and can roam free.
If this is unacceptable, I suggest giving the cat a new home with a friend or family member before the neighbor chooses the cat’s fate.
Confining the cat is not going to work and it’s not up to the neighbors to live by your rules.
I love cats. I’ve had cats all my life. (Notice I didn’t say I’ve owned cats. Nobody owns a cat.)
If a cat did understand the concept of human property lines, it would ignore them.
The cat’s human, however, likely does understand the concept of private property and should respect his neighbor by corraling the cat.
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